Device and method for maintaining swimming pools

ABSTRACT

A device for winterizing pools comprises a compartment including a front portion having a periphery defining a first opening. An upper portion of the compartment defines a second opening. The periphery is to sealingly engage a wall of a swimming pool such that the first opening surrounds a return line aperture defined by the wall of the swimming pool. The second opening defined by the upper portion is to be disposed above a water level of the swimming pool. A pump is to be disposed within the compartment, and is energized by, for example, a DC power supply. A conduit includes a first end to be coupled to an outlet of the pump and includes a second end to be disposed outside of the compartment and adjacent to the upper portion thereof for directing fluid out of the compartment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/548,807, filed on Feb. 27, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a device and method formaintaining swimming pools, and more particularly relates to a deviceand method for winterizing inground swimming pools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Winterizing inground swimming pools can include draining water from thereturn lines and thereafter filling the return lines with a winterizingchemical fluid such as antifreeze. This process prevents water in thereturn lines from expanding as a result of freezing, and therebydamaging the return lines. Winterizing the return lines is typicallywasteful of water and is time consuming. Winterizing the return linestypically involves draining water in a swimming pool below the returnlines to treat 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water. This is a substantialwaste of water. Moreover, the process of draining water can last as longas five hours.

Based on the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention toprovide a device and method for winterizing a pool that overcomes theabove-mentioned drawbacks and disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the present invention, a device for winterizingpools comprises a compartment including a front portion having aperiphery defining a first opening. An upper portion of the compartmentdefines a second opening. The periphery is for sealingly engaging a wallof a swimming pool such that the first opening surrounds a return lineaperture defined by the wall of the swimming pool. The second openingdefined by the upper portion is to be disposed above a water level ofthe swimming pool. A pump is to be disposed within the compartment, andis energized by, for example, a DC power supply. A conduit includes afirst end to be coupled to an outlet of the pump and includes a secondend to be disposed outside of the compartment and adjacent to the upperportion thereof for directing fluid out of the compartment.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a method of winterizingswimming pools comprises providing a compartment including a frontportion having a periphery defining a first opening, and an upperportion defining a second opening. A pump is disposed within thecompartment. A conduit includes a first end coupled to an outlet of thepump and includes a second end disposed outside of the compartment andadjacent to the upper portion thereof. The periphery of the compartmentis placed against a wall of a swimming pool such that the first openingsurrounds a return line aperture defined by the wall of the swimmingpool, and the second opening is positioned above a water level of theswimming pool. The pump is energized to create a vacuum to sealinglyengage the periphery against the wall of the swimming pool, and todirect fluid through the conduit and out of the compartment until thefluid level within the compartment is at least below that of the returnline aperture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device for winterizing swimming poolsembodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 employed in aswimming pool.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1 employed in a swimmingpool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1-4, a device for winterizing swimming pools isindicated generally by the reference number 10. The device 10 should beused in climates where there is the possibility of the outdoortemperature falling below the freezing temperature of water. The devicecomprises a compartment 12, a pump 14 disposed in the compartment forevacuating fluid from the compartment, a power supply 16 for energizingthe pump, and a conduit 18 coupled to the pump for directing fluid outof the compartment.

In a preferred embodiment, the compartment 12 is rectangular andincludes a bottom wall 20, two sidewalls 22, a rear wall 24, and anupper wall 26. Front edges of the bottom wall 20, the sidewalls 22, therear wall 24, and the upper wall 26 cooperate to form a periphery 28defining an open front face or first opening 30. The upper wall 26 ofthe compartment 12 defines a second opening 32. The compartment 12 isfabricated from a hard plastic or other strong material that maintainsits shape under water pressure.

By way of example only, the dimensions of the compartment 12 are: lengthof about 14 inches, width of about 12 inches, and height of about 24inches. The dimensions of the second opening 32 can be: length of about9 inches, and width of about 5 inches so as to be large enough for anoperator's hand or arm to enter therethrough in order to access the pump14 or a return line of a swimming pool to be enclosed by the open frontface 30 of the compartment 12 as is explained more fully below. Thesecond opening 32 can be disposed about 2 inches from the open frontface 30 of the compartment 12, and about 5 inches from the rear wall 24of the compartment. The walls of the compartment 12 are preferably atleast 1/4 inch thick. Although the compartment 12 is rectangular in apreferred embodiment, the compartment can take other practical shapeswithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the periphery 28 includes a resilient, compressiblegasket or seal 34 disposed thereon for creating a generally watertightand waterproof seal around the open front face 30 of the compartment 12.In a preferred embodiment, the seal 34 is a resilientpolyethylenepropylenediene (EPDM) self-adhesive weatherstrip tapemanufactured by Macklanburg-Duncan Co. of Oklahoma City, Okla. Theweather strip has a D-profile and is 23/64 inch wide and 5/16 inchthick. However, the seal 34 can be fabricated from other generallywatertight materials.

The pump 14 is mounted within the compartment 12 at a rear lower cornerthereof. Preferably, the pump 14 is a submersible bilge pump such as,for example, the Rule 360 Non-Automatic Bilge Pump manufactured by RuleIndustries, Inc. of Burlington, Mass. The Rule 360. Pump has a capacityof 360 gallons per hour (1363 liters per hour), and operates on 12 voltsDC. The pump 14 can have a higher or lower capacity depending on thesize of the compartment 12 to be evacuated.

The power supply 16 includes a generally watertight housingaccommodating a DC battery source such as, for example, eight AAA 1.5volt dry cell batteries electrically coupled in series. The power supply16 preferably includes an on/off switch 36 mounted on top of the housingfor turning the pump 14 on and off. The DC current generated by thepower supply 16 will not shock a user if the dry cell batteries get wetand will generally not short out.

The conduit 18, preferably a plastic hose or PVC pipe, includes alongitudinal portion 38 such as, for example, a ½ inch or 3/4 inchsection vertically disposed along a rear corner or seam of thecompartment 12. The longitudinal portion 38 of the conduit 12 has afirst end 40 in the form of a 90 degree or elbow section coupled to anoutlet of the pump 14, and a second end 42 in the form of a 90 degree orelbow section disposed outside of the compartment 12 and adjacent to anupper portion thereof for directing fluid out of the compartment. Pumpwires (not shown) preferably extend behind the conduit 18 from the powersupply 16 to the pump 14. An upper portion of the conduit 18 extendsthrough a third opening 44 defined by the upper wall 26 of thecompartment 12 such that the second end 42 of the conduit is disposedoutside of and above the upper wall. The longitudinal portion 38preferably includes a 360 degree swivel section 46 disposed adjacent tothe second end 42 to permit adjustment of the orientation of an outlet48 of the second end and to thereby direct pumped water back into aswimming pool. Moreover, the second end 42 defines attachment threads 50for connecting the conduit 18 to, for example, a hose fitting for therecapture and possible reuse of winterizing chemical fluids orantifreeze as is explained more fully below.

In operation, the open front face or first opening 30 of the compartment12 is placed over and flush against a wall 52 of a swimming pool 54 suchthat the first opening surrounds a return line 56 defined by the wall ofthe swimming pool, and such that the second opening 32 defined by theupper wall 26 of the compartment is disposed above a water level 58 ofthe pool. The pump 14 is then energized by the power supply 16 to drawwater out of the compartment 12 via the conduit 18 and back into thepool 54. The second opening 32 disposed above the water level 58 of theswimming pool 54 permits air to fill the vacuum generated within thecompartment 12 as fluid is being evacuated therefrom. The compartment 12is held against the wall 52 to start suction. As water is drawn out ofthe compartment 12, a localized water level 60 within the compartment islowered at least below that of the return line 56 enclosed by thecompartment.

Preferably, water is totally evacuated from the compartment 12. As wateris being evacuated, the water pressure outside the compartment 12becomes greater than the pressure inside the compartment to furthercompress the seal 34 against the wall 52 of the swimming pool 54 andthereby prevent water from leaking back into the compartment. Sometimesthe difference in pressure between the inside and outside of thecompartment 12 is large enough to force the compartment upward. However,such upward movement of the compartment 12 is eventually halted once thecompartment contacts an overhang 62 of the swimming pool 54. The usercan then reach through the second opening 32 to access the return line56. The return line 56 is blown out and excess water in the line can bedrawn by the pump 14 out of the compartment 12 and back into theswimming pool 54. The return line 56 can then be replaced with awinterizing chemical fluid or non-toxic antifreeze and the return linethereafter capped for the winter with no water remaining inside thereturn line. The device 10 can also be used in the spring or summer topump the winterizing chemical fluid out of the return line 56 asexplained below.

The device 10 saves water from being wasted during the winterizingprocess by pumping back into a pool approximately five to ten gallons ofwater. Moreover, the winterizing process using the device 10 takes onlyapproximately five minutes. Conventionally, water would be drained belowthe return lines to winterize 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water,chemicals would have to go into the sewer systems, and it would takeupwards of five hours to drain.

Winterizing chemical recapture in the spring in accordance with thepresent invention is also possible by placing the compartment 12 overthe return line 56 and evacuating water from the compartment 12 in a waysimilar to that explained above with respect to winterizing a pool. Thereturn line 56 is then uncapped and the winterizing chemical fluid isdrained into the compartment 12 and evacuated by the pump 14 therefromvia the conduit 18. A hose (not shown) can be attached to the threads 50of the second end 42 of the conduit 18 to recapture the winterizingchemical fluid, or alternatively an antifreeze bottle or other containercan be held under the second end of the conduit in order to fill thecontainer. The recaptured winterizing chemical fluid would need to betested in the fall for strength or dilution before reusing.

While the present invention has been described in a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that numerous modifications andsubstitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Accordingly, the present invention has been described in apreferred embodiment by way of illustration, rather than limitation.

1. A device for winterizing pools, comprising: a compartment including afront portion having a periphery defining a first opening, and an upperportion defining a second opening, the periphery to sealingly engage awall of a swimming pool such that the first opening surrounds a returnline aperture defined by the wall of the swimming pool, the secondopening defined by the upper portion to be disposed above a water levelof the swimming pool; a pump to be disposed within the compartment; anda conduit including a first end to be coupled to an outlet of the pumpand including a second end to be disposed outside of the compartment andadjacent to the upper portion thereof for directing fluid out of thecompartment.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1, further comprising apower supply to communicate with and energize the pump.
 3. A device asdefined in claim 2, wherein the power supply includes a DC batterysource.
 4. A device as defined in claim 2, wherein the power supplyincludes an on/off switch to respectively energize and de-energize thepump.
 5. A device as defined in claim 1, further including a seal to bedisposed on the periphery of the first opening.
 6. A device as definedin claim 5, wherein the seal includes a resilient material for forming agenerally watertight seal.
 7. A device as defined in claim 5, whereinthe seal includes a polyethylenepropylenediene weatherstrip tape forforming a generally watertight seal.
 8. A device as defined in claim 1,wherein the pump is a submersible bilge pump.
 9. A device as defined inclaim 1, wherein the compartment is generally rectangular.
 10. A deviceas defined in claim 9, wherein the compartment includes a bottom wall,two sidewalls, a rear wall, an upper wall defining the second opening,and wherein front edges of the bottom wall, the sidewalls and the upperwall forming the periphery of the first opening.
 11. A device as definedin claim 1, wherein the second end of the conduit includes an elbowsection to direct fluid away from the compartment.
 12. A device asdefined in claim 11, wherein the elbow section defines attachmentthreads.
 13. A device as defined in claim 11, wherein the conduitincludes a swivel section for adjusting an orientation of the elbowsection.
 14. A method of winterizing swimming pools, comprising thesteps of: providing a compartment including a front portion having aperiphery defining a first opening, and an upper portion defining asecond opening; providing a pump disposed within the compartment;providing a conduit including a first end coupled to an outlet of thepump and including a second end disposed outside of the compartment andadjacent to the upper portion thereof; placing the periphery against awall of a swimming pool such that the first opening surrounds a returnline aperture defined by the wall of the swimming pool, and positioningthe second opening above a water level of the swimming pool; andenergizing the pump to create a vacuum to sealingly engage the peripheryagainst the wall of the swimming pool, and to direct fluid through theconduit and out of the compartment until a fluid level within thecompartment is at least below that of the return line aperture.
 15. Amethod as defined in claim 14, further including the steps of: drainingwater from the return line aperture; inserting a winterizing chemicalfluid into the return line aperture; and closing the return lineaperture.
 16. A method as defined in claim 14, further including thesteps of: opening the return line aperture; draining a winterizingchemical fluid from the return line aperture and into the compartment;and energizing the pump to draw the winterizing chemical fluid out ofthe compartment for recapture.